There it is -

[kyburg]

My mother admitted to me once that the one thing she hated buying, more than anything else, was insurance. Period.

We were always insured, though. We even carried AAA memberships. That did not mean Mom liked paying for them.

I think I've discovered the Thing I hate buying, most of all.

I hate paying the dentist. I hate paying the dentist thousands above what my insurance coverage allows.

All you have to do is remind me of where money I'd like to spend on Fun Things is going - and if it's someplace that is in working order, no problems to speak of and so on?

Yeah, I'm a little cheesed. I think my favorite was the two crowns my dentist first mentioned that I needed soon - in August of 2008. Uh, so far? Right.

And today, they insisted I ship out to a referral for periodontal scaling, because they just can't get the work they say I need done fast enough. Scheduling and all that.

*grump* I wore braces for two and a half years, I know how much fun the dentist isn't. I was on pain relief every four hours for two and a half years. And now they want me to pay a whole lotta of money for - get this - pain and suffering I've managed to avoid for nearly five years with no noticeable consequences.

*kicks can* I'm calling the referral and making appointments, but if they want a new car for it, I'm passing. "Terrible things will happen to you!"

Terrible things CAN happen to me. At this point, I'm really not impressed.

Comments

I already know...

[tomlemos.livejournal.com]

I've got my dental troubles that will require dentures of some sort, but

there's not much I can do until I can afford to do it and yeah, I know it's bad and all that, but these days, there's not much you can do, can you?

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

I feel you. I've actually got enamel damage from my many years of braces, am facing gum surgery if I ever get insurance again, and my Mom is calling me weekly to swear at how much she just had to pay the dentist and surgeon and so on for her implants. And my poor Mom - who is due to have her cataracts taken out in a month, which got pushed back partly due to funerals and dental costs - just scraped the fender of a dentist's wife's car in the parking lot. Dentist's wife is having a hissy fit over this minor scratch. (You know those scratches that any sensible old car would have buffed out of the chrome bumper, and that modern cars require a whole new bumper for? Yeah.) (Fortunately it's the other dentist rather than Mom's dentist, his partner.) Mom, who has never had to make a car insurance claim in her entire life, is mortified and annoyed. Fortunately her car insurance guy is taking care of the hissy fit for her, but I'm certainly in a dentist-kicking mood.

And so not in the mood to hear about the terrible things that will happen to me. Hi, I'm already in a fucking wheelchair, think my gum health is my first priority? Right.

[murphymom.livejournal.com]

Perhaps a different dentist is in order? Just sayin'

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Yep, one month of new dentist, one cleaning, one extraction and temporary crown later, and me, with insurance, I'm into new credit card with $3000 of the shiny worn off it. With two neighboring teeth cut down to nubs to support the crown, that'll made them candidates for extraction sooner rather than later. At what point do I say, I'll let them all rot out of my head and risk nasty infections? I get to ride transit with the folks who do that, and they aren't enjoing it.

[ms-hecubus.livejournal.com]

You were on pain meds for your braces? Wow!

That said

[turandot.livejournal.com]

Terrible things do happen to people's teeth sometimes. I've learned the hard way that while some people can put off dental work and let dental coverage lapse, I can't be one of them. I've had teeth go from cavities to root canals in days. I even lost one to a tooth infection because I was traveling and couldn't see a dentist for 2 days.

When I see the dentist - and I see her often: every 3 months... I have really bad, probably genetic gum disease, and perio-scaling every 3 months is the only thing that has prevented bone loss in my mouth, so far - I take any and all recommendations she makes seriously. It took losing said aforementioned tooth, and it ruining Christmas (I had to have an emergency tooth extraction on Dec 23, we had to cancel dinner at a 5 star restaurant for that evening, and I was in bed drooling and changing cotton gauze all of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... it was super depressing) to realize that some suggestions can't be ignored. For me, it's "do what the dentist says, and if she says that a procedure needs to be done, schedule it yesterday."

Perio-scaling, by the way, shouldn't be that expensive. Probably only twice as expensive as a regular cleaning, because it takes twice as long, but your teeth will never be cleaner, afterward. If the dentist you're being referred to can bill it as a preventive measure, chances are your dental insurance will end up paying for the bulk of it. Most dental insurance can be pretty stingy when it comes to paying for emergency care, but what they do cover pretty happily is preventive care. Shittiest dental insurance I ever had was Delta Dental, and even they would pay about 75% of it.